Trinity of Twisted Karma
by A Penned Desire
Summary: A weird phenomenon is spreading and pokemon are forced to take sides with trainers whom they deem to be worthy of. An epic battle is bound to surface between trainers and pokemon alike.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"I challenge thee to a gym battle."

The voice resounded throughout the entire gym in a monotonous tone as if the unknown challenger had done this one too many times. Without a second's doubt, the gym leader herself appeared, fully prepared. The young woman smiled, a knowing smile at…a young boy, though his face was covered by a simple mask that hid his features away from prying eyes.

"I accept your challenge," was all she said to him as the two of them faced each other, across the battlefield.

She placed her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently as the official adjudicator took up his usual position on the left of her.

"This will be a three-on-three match with no time limit. Only the challenger is allowed to switch between pokemon in his arsenal," he announced. "Let the match begin."

The gym leader threw out a pokéball and in a flash of blinding white light, appeared Starmie, a water type pokemon but with Psychic type abilities.

From across the field of water, she studied him. This boy had an unnatural aura around him, seemingly inhuman. Although eager to begin the battle, she was careful not to show it as it had really been a long time since someone dared to face up to her. It was not that she was showing off or anything but as of late, the number of pokemon trainers had been in fact, dwindling. The reason was still unknown. Nevertheless, her guess was the new generation of kids simply could not be bothered so as long as humans and pokemon were able to co-exist with one another peacefully. Oh well, this boy would be the first one to taste her potency. She was not like the trainer that she used to be when she travelled together with her best friends.

"Call out your pokemon," the announcer urged him. "Or it will be a forfeit."

Her pretty cerulean eyes narrowed at this. Without another word, the boy finally withdrew a pokéball from his cloak and tossed it lazily. There were a couple of collective gasps as both she and the referee gaped at the pokemon that stood before them.

"Tis' a pity for you are only a girl, my dear," the boy told her in a soft voice. "You should not have become a Gym Leader for it will bring about your own doom."

With that, everything went black before she could even scream as Starmie's pokéball fell from her hand and into the water, where it was quickly swallowed up by the inky blackness. The woman had disappeared from view. The boy turned to the referee. A slow smirk spread across his face when he sensed the older man's fear.

"Have no fear; I would not lay harm on someone innocuous such as you. A messenger is what you will be."

With a flick of his hand, his pokemon easily knocked both the Starmie and the referee, unconscious. This was his second mission, and already the boy was getting bored of it. The other one had put up an immense fight though it was all for naught. There was still more to go and more Gym Leaders to eliminate. Time was not on his side, neither was it for anyone else. He has to finish this quick and end it once and for all. For now, he needed to surmount over all the obstacles that stood in his way first. Only then, would he be able to prevail and exact his direct revenge on his selected audience before going on to the entire planet. Nothing will stand in his way, not _her _and definitely not anyone else for that matter.

He smirked at the scene before him; destruction was definitely something he worshipped. He turned his back to the remaining unconscious survivors. After all, they meant nothing to him and were not even worth his attention at all.

"Misty…" the referee whispered croakily as his vision swam and darkness reached up to claim him.

The last thing he saw was that pokemon destroying the entire arena, Misty had expressly worked so hard for.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver

"This is preposterous!" the president yelled out, banging his fist on his glass-topped office table, sending folder after folder falling haphazardly over the parquet floor.

His assistant cringed as he simply stood near the door, further awaiting directives from him. This was the first time that Mr. Charles Goodshow had lost his temper as soon as Joshua had given him the report of the peculiar disappearances of the Gym Leaders which had happened successively.

"What in heavens' name is going on here?" Charles demanded, glaring down at the folder.

The question brought up was something even Joshua could not answer so he decided to remain quiet. He understood the president's wrath as this brought about immense consequences where none of them are positive. The Pokemon League, this year would have to be cancelled and that would in turn cause uproar by both the audience and participating trainers alike. Just then, there was a sharp tap on the door and an officer Jenny marched in, a grave look on her pale face. She was then followed by an official referee of one of the gyms, in Kanto.

Charles looked up at her. "What's the problem, Officer?"

The young woman saluted him and motioned towards the referee. "He bears witness to something that happened in the Cerulean Gym that might correlate to the other disappearances of the Leaders as well."

The president noticed that the man looked pretty shaken up. They waited patiently for him to gather his bearings before he started talking.

"He said I was a messenger. That boy had the legendary pokemon, Mew. He controlled it so easily. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life…"

"Who is he? That boy you've said?" Charles demanded sharply.

The referee shook his head. "Everything was a mask."

"That was what the previous referee of Brock's gym has also described," Joshua finally spoke up after a moment's hesitation.

Officer Jenny nodded in agreement. "Their statements also happen to coincide with one another but the perpetrator will be a huge undertaking for our officers to find."

Charles nodded slowly. "That will do, Officer Jenny. For now, please reinforce security within located towns with the Gym Leaders. I will make arrangements to call in professionals to secure the rest of our gyms."

She gave a brief nod and saluted the elderly man, before leaving together with the witness. The door closed behind their retreating backs with a polite click. Finally after a moment's pause, the older man turned to his assistant.

"Joshua, inform all the representatives. We need to deploy them as soon as possible to plan an ambush for this boy."

"At once, Mr. Goodshow," Joshua answered promptly. "And what about Lance? We have no way of locating much less even contacting him,"

Charles laced his fingers together, a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes, he is in Hoenn right now, doing some investigation there."

"So, should we contact Claire then?"

The president shook his head, no. "No, he has chosen a replacement for his period of absence."

The assistant's eyebrows rose as he stared at Charles, confused.

"And who might that be?"

"Contact Jane Cruise," Charles replied. "She will be the stand-in for Lance."

Joshua blinked, as understanding dawned in his eyes. "Right away sir. Knowing her, she's probably somewhere saving others."

Charles smiled, a fond smile.

Location: On the outskirts of Cherrygrove City

"Hand that Pichu over!" a pretty pink-haired girl yelled out. "Or there's going to be trouble."

The Furret completely agreed with its trainer and stepped forward, snarling, preparing itself for an all-out battle against these idiots in order to protect her. Even for a pokemon, it knew better than to mess with her. Furret knew that it was going to win even if they called out their own pokemon against it. It had been trained well enough, by someone like her after all.

The gang surrounded her and the other small girl to whom the Pichu belonged to. The younger girl began to cry.

"Don't worry Natasha. We'll definitely get your pokemon back for you," the older girl comforted her, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Oh yeah? Sweet talk coming from a little lady like you," one of them sneered. "What were you thinking trying to take us all on with only a puny Furret?"

In response to the mockery, Furret growled menacingly. It did not like to be ridicule at.

"The name is Jane and I happened to be thinking straight for your information, you idiot," she retorted nastily. "Now, give it back."

The gang member smirked, tightening his grip on the poor electric mouse causing it to squeal in pain.

"Don't you even dare!" Jane screamed. "Furret use – "

"Gengar go!"

"Eh?"

All eyes turned to the other trainer. He looked to be about twenty with brown hair and similar colored eyes, the color of delicious chocolate. He had on a lab coat over his clothes. Must be some researcher, Jane thought. She fumed. She hated to be interrupted especially if she was in a midst of a pokemon battle.

"Get that Pichu away from him!" he yelled.

Its Gengar acted upon his instructions. Boy, was it fast! Jane could hardly track its movement except a purple blur floating to and fro. By the time it appeared, was at its trainer's side with the Pichu safely tucked in his arms.

"What the hell!" the thug cursed in both shock and anger. "That's it! Venusaur, get them!"

He threw a pokéball and in a blinding flash of white light, the gigantic green giant materialized. As if on cue, the other gang members threw out their own respective pokéballs. A Nidoking, a Ninetales, a Golduck and a Persian appeared.

"Heh! Try this on for size!" he scoffed.

Instinctively, Jane shielded Natasha from them, using her body. She shot him, a chilly glare. "Cheaters. That's five against two! It's against the rules!"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Rules don't work with us, Jane."

Her light blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"Fine. If you want it that way, I'll do a double battle against you," Jane shot back and threw out her own pokeball. "Go!"

A Dragonair appeared from within it.

The other trainer whistled as he stepped forward, a pokéball in his hand. "Didn't know you had such strong pokemon in your arsenal, Jane. We'll do it your way then. Besides, I've been wanting to test this pokemon's strength for a long time now. Come on out, Aggron!"

The steel type pokemon roared, threateningly as it flexed its arms, towering over the other pokemon.

"Go!" the gang members instructed and each of their pokemon advanced forward.

"Stand back Natasha."

Jane wasted no time in instructing her own pokemon. "Furret jump onto Dragonair now!"

The brown pokemon leapt onto Dragonair's glossy blue body, narrowly avoiding Ninetales' flamethrower and Persian's bite.

"Furret use thunder on Ninetales, Dragonair use hyper beam on Persian!"

She glanced over at the other trainer to see how he was holding up. Miraculously, he was doing just fine even for a researcher; he seemed to know his battle techniques well. His pokemon had already knocked the Golduck unconscious and were now fighting with Venusaur and Nidoking. Jane was impressed but she needed to focus on her own battle at hand. Ninetales managed to dodge the electric attack with its agility but Dragonair's hyper beam was right on target, managing to score a direct one-hit knockout. Ninetales fired off a fire blast in the direction of Dragonair.

"Dragonair, quick use protect! Furret, iron tail now!" Jane yelled.

However, even landing the steel type move on Ninetales, the attack alone was not enough to knock it unconscious.

Ninetales was closing in on both of her pokemon, with its quick attack.

"Furret, get on top of Dragonair now!"

Once the normal-type pokemon was safely on top of her Dragonair. Jane instructed the dragon pokemon to execute a shattering earthquake attack, stopping Ninetales in its tracks as it was hurled violently into the air, from the force of it. The thugs quickly recalled back their pokemon, clearly put out by the unfavorable situation.

The head honcho made a rude noise as he backed away from them. "I'll remember this!"

With that, they turned to their heels and fled.

"Losers," Jane muttered as she called back her own pokemon. "Try picking on someone your own size."

The unknown trainer from earlier stepped forward and handed Natasha, her Pichu who was delighted to reunite with its trainer once again. Jane patted her soft head fondly. "Take good care of it, okay, Natasha?"

The young girl looked up at her and nodded, beaming. "I will. Thank you so much!"

They bid farewell when Natasha's mother arrived, looking for her daughter.

"We didn't manage a proper introduction earlier on," Jane extended her hand out. "I'm Jane Cruise. Thanks for helping me out back there."

"Gary Oak," he said with a friendly smile and a firm handshake. "Not a problem."

"You are a researcher, aren't you? You don't look local though."

Gary nodded. "Yeah, I am but I come from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region."

"That's far off though but judging from your skills in battle and your pokemon, I figured you were a trainer before, am I right?" Jane asked him, inquisitively.

The older boy looked at her and laughed. "You really have excellent observing skills. Yup, sure was. What about you?"

"I'm a local here, alright." Jane replied, shooting him a sidelong glance. "Guess you could call me a wandering pokemon trainer."

"Wandering trainer, huh?" Gary echoed, looking perplexed. "Never heard of that before."

The girl looked self-conscious and let out an awkward laugh. "Well, I'm the first of its kind then."

Just then, her pokegear rang. She flipped it open and checked the I.D.

**ASSISTANT JOSHUA**  
Jane excused herself and left to answer the phone call.

Location: Cerulean City, Cerulean Gym

"MISTY!" Twenty-year-old Ash Ketchum yelled as he barged into his best friend's gym.

His voice echoed cacophonously throughout the entire place. The atmosphere itself was eerily silent. Everything was bathed in darkness. Although he tried the light switches, the lights did not come on. The power was out. A weird sensation passed over him as it settled uncomfortably in his stomach. It was the feeling of dread. The boy knew that something was terribly wrong. Misty always left the lights on in the Gym, no matter if it was in the day or night. After all, her sisters were water artistes who performed at the Gym on a regular basis so lights were a basic necessity. However, even after they left for a long vacation, she still left them on, a permanent habit of hers. Ever since, Brock had inexplicably pulled a vanishing act, he knew instantly that something big was happening so he went to find Misty. Apparently, he was much too late.

Turning to his buddy, Pikachu, Ash instructed it to use thunderbolt in order to supply the voltage needed to power up the lights. As the lights flashed on, Ash and Pikachu got a clear view of the Gym. A gasp escaped his throat as he stared wordlessly around, at the now ruined Gym. The entire battleground was destroyed, leaving behind only debris, floating on the water.

"Pikachu, look, it's all ruined. Misty's gone too…"

The electric mouse looked up at its trainer sadly, its pointy ears drooping. Misty was a close friend of Pikachu's as well as Brock was. Ash's agony was also its agony. Suddenly, Pikachu's ears pricked up. It had heard something moving in the water. Alerting Ash, it ran off with its trainer following closely behind.

"It's Misty's Starmie," he said as soon as he recognized the pokemon.

The reddish pink jewel in its core was blinking, signaling that the water pokemon was very weak.

"We've got to get it to the nearest Pokemon Centre, right away."

As Ash picked Starmie up into his arms and ran out of the Gym, something occurred to him. If Starmie was left behind, it might have witnessed what had happened when Misty went missing…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Location: Pallet Town, Professor Oak's Laboratory

Professor Samuel Oak had surrounded himself with the pokemon that the Pallet Town trainers had daily deposited at his lab via the pokemon transporter system. It was a on a daily basis which he usually did in the mornings. As he took down the measurements of a Rattata that was recently deposited by a novice trainer just yesterday, his phone rang. The older man decided to let it ring a few more times as he quickly jotted down the last few numbers onto his clipboard pad. Finally satisfied, he pressed a button to receive his caller and Mr. Charles Goodshow's face appeared on the screen.

"Good day, Charles. Why the early morning call?" the aged scientist asked the Pokemon League President.

"Samuel, something is going on in the Kanto region. Already two Gym Leaders have already vanished in just three days. Witnesses claimed that the last person they saw was a young boy wearing a cloak and a mask. If we don't do something fast, very soon the rest of the others will be on jeopardy."

The professor's intelligent brown eyes widened in shock at this.

"And who might that two be?" he asked sharply.

"First to disappear is Brock from the Pewter City Gym and Misty from the Cerulean City Gym. She disappeared just yesterday," the president answered.

Understanding then dawned on him when Ash refused to answer his calls, the past three days. He must have gone to find his friends.

"This suspect is targeting at all of the Gym Leaders in the Kanto Region," Charles continued on. "And we need your help. I've already called in the Elite Four to help us out but there aren't enough to protect the remaining six Leaders. Do you have anyone in mind that can help out? I'm talking about elite trainers who are skilled in battle."

The scientist nodded, his expression severe. "Yes, in fact I do have two. Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak."

"Ah yes, Ash Ketchum. Well then, I'm counting on you to relay the message to them. I'll give them two days for them to arrive at Silver Town at Mount Silver. Everyone will be congregating here and from there deployed to the Gyms."

With that, Charles disconnected the line and the screen went blank. The older man stared at the now black screen, feeling a wave of uneasiness.

A young boy has the power to do all this? What in the world is happening?

Countless questions rolled around in his mind, which he was sure the rest of them were trying to figure out.

Finally snapping out of it, he scrambled to make an urgent call to the Nurse Joy in Cherrygrove City where Gary had informed him that he would start his search for Lugia there.

Location: Outskirts of Cherrygrove City 

"Well, who was that Jane, if you don't mind me asking?" Gary asked her, as soon as she came back to where he was.

"Oh, just my grandpa's assistant calling to go back," Jane answered, shrugging her shoulders as she tucked her pokegear back into the pocket of her white shorts. "Nothing new there though."

Gary nodded. "But it's good to go back home sometimes to maintain good family ties, Jane. Your grandpa must obviously be worried about you."

The nineteen-year-old nodded. "Yeah I know that but thing is I've been a tad kinda busy."

"I see. Well, are you going back?"

Jane nodded again.

"Yes, something urgent came up and I've got to go."

Gary smiled and extended his own hand out to her. "Well, it's been great knowing you, Jane. We'll meet again someday soon, I hope."

The girl grinned at him. "Me too! I have a feeling that we'll see each other again."

Throwing out a pokéball, Jane called upon her Dragonair, once again. She hopped onto its back, followed by her Furret. Taking that as a cue, Dragonair rose up into the air and hovered above Gary's head for a moment.

"See you around, Gary!" the girl waved goodbye before her pokemon took off into the embrace of the skies.

Once Jane had left, Gary started towards Cherrygrove City's Pokemon Centre. He needed to call his own grandpa and inform him of the progress of his research on the legendary pokemon that he was searching for, Lugia, also known as the guardian of the seas'. There were sightings of this elusive pokemon here in the Johto Region around the vicinity of the Whirl Islands, thus the purpose of him coming here. Although not much was known about this pokemon, Gary was determined to find out more about this pokemon. This made it all the more harder to locate its habitat since Lugia was thought to live deep beneath the ocean. Humans could not venture that far in because of its escalating pressure. Since he was headed for a pokemon centre, he might as well let Nurse Joy do a check-up on his pokemon. As he approached towards the front desk where she usually stood to receive trainers' pokéballs, Nurse Joy herself appeared in front of him.

"Are you by any chance, Gary Oak from Pallet Town?"

The twenty-year-old blinked and nodded. "Uh huh, I am."

"Professor Oak has left a message for you to call him as soon as possible. He sounded quite troubled over the phone earlier. Maybe it's best if you returned his call now," Nurse Joy advised him.

Gary thanked her and told her that he would definitely do so. Settling himself down at the nearest phone booth available, the researcher called his grandfather, wondering what it was that made his grandpa so edgy. The old researcher picked up on the first ring.

"Hey there, grandpa. What's up?"

"Gary, you have to listen carefully to what I'm going to say to you now, do you understand?" Professor Oak told him. "And it's important that you go find Ash and tell him what I'm going to say to you."

Location: Whirl Islands

"These dark caves are really mind-boggling, ya know!" Jayden Clarke declared as he stumbled out from one of gaping mouth of the mysterious caves.

It was true; the four islands of the archipelago had many big caverns which could really make people go astray as the tunnels could literally go on perpetually.

"Yeah, like literally," Lexie Lakecia agreed, nodding to show her agreement.

Daniel Evans rolled his eyes. "Oh please Jayden, you've only taken two steps in and out."

The red-eyed girl burst out laughing. Jayden shot his friend, a dirty look which Daniel chose to ignore and focused on his laptop computer instead. His fingers flew expertly over the keyboard and his intelligent grey eyes scanned the images on the screen.

Lexie groaned and tapped her foot impatiently. "Is it going to take long, Daniel? Cause' I _hate _waiting."

"Won't be long now, I just need to pinpoint Lugia's location. Then we can go," the twenty-year-old answered absently, his eyes still on the screen.

"I still don't understand why the plan involves the abduction of the Gym Leaders," Jayden complained. "They are a nuisance."

Lexie shrugged her shoulders in response. "Well, neither do I. It doesn't seem to be a snug puzzle piece though. The next targets will be Johto and Hoenn besides Kanto."

Daniel remained silent. He needed to focus at their mission at hand which meant that he did not have time to ponder over that too. Suddenly, he stiffened and stood up.

"What's wrong?" Lexie demanded, turning to him.

"It's gone!" Daniel cried. "Lugia's not here."

Both Jayden and Lexie ran over to him, to take a closer look at his laptop screen.

"What do you mean it's gone?" Jayden asked sharply.

"I don't know but Lugia's not anywhere in the Whirl Islands anymore," Daniel replied.

Lexie's eyes narrowed. "So you are implying that someone came here before we did?"

Daniel paused for a moment before he answered. "Yeah, that could be a possibility. Or it might have wandered off somewhere."

"Geez, this is such a waste of time. I suggest we split up and go after these pokemon individually. That way, we can get more ground covered," Jayden suggested.

Without even waiting for the rest to answer, he called upon his Alakazam and the two of them vanished from view, using the psychic pokemon's teleport.

"Well, he's gone alright," Lexie pointed out. "I should probably get going too. See you around, Daniel."

She threw out a pokéball and Altaria appeared. With a graceful leap, she got onto Altaria's back and they too took off, leaving Daniel behind.

The twenty-year-old sighed deeply and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, as he shut his laptop close.

"Those idiots won't be able to find any pokemon just like that," he muttered.

Daniel knew that it was worthless to linger around here any longer. Whirl Islands was of no use to him anymore. Furthermore, the weather around these parts was getting worse so it would be best if he too headed for another legendary's dwelling.

Location: Cerulean City's Pokemon Centre

The moment Nurse Joy stepped out from the ward, both Ash and Pikachu ran up to her.

"Nurse Joy, how is Starmie doing?" he asked her, anxiously. "Is it going to be okay?"

The pink-haired woman looked at him and smiled kindly. "Yes, it will be just fine after a night's sleep. Starmie was pretty worn out so it needs rest in order to recover."

The twenty-year-old sighed in relief at her words. Misty's Starmie was going to be all right.

"Thank you so much, Nurse Joy."

The nurse nodded and left to attend to the other pokemon. Ash quietly walked over to the ward, and peered through the translucent glass window at Starmie's motionless form on the bed.

"You'll pull through, Starmie, for Misty's sake."

Then he turned to his Pikachu. "Want to join me for a bit of fresh air, pal?"

The electric mouse gave him a smile and nodded. It would follow Ash wherever he went like what it had always been doing before.

"Pikachu, what did you think could have happened to both Brock and Misty?" Ash asked, speaking aloud his thoughts as the two to them, walked by the lake.

"I can't help but feel that something ominous is just waiting to happen," he continued.

He hoisted himself onto a rock and pulled his legs close to his body as Pikachu hopped up, beside him. The boy gazed out at the lake. Everything was so tranquil out here as compared to his emotions that was in turmoil. His fingers grazed a rock and he picked it up and threw it into the water, causing ripples to appear as it skimmed over the surface. Just then, his Pikachu leapt to its feet, looking around, its ears pricked up. The electric-type pokemon had picked up something.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Ash asked, getting to his feet.

He too could sense that something was coming this way. The two of them tensed and waited for something to happen. It came soon enough.

They stared in awe at the pokemon that was bathed in a mysterious gold light.

"It's Ho-oh…"

Ash could recognize this pokemon anywhere since he had seen it one too many times. For a long moment, both Ho-oh and the twenty-year-old stared at each other, directly in the other's eye.

Finally, it was Ho-oh who spoke via telepathy.

"I who have chosen you as my Guardian trainer, Ash Ketchum, will fight in the ultimate battle which has been foretold to come in the near future."

A confused expression crossed Ash's face.

"You will understand soon…"

Using its own abilities, Ho-oh disintegrated and in a flash of red light, entered one of Ash's empty pokéball on his belt.

"There are Guardian trainers like you who have been chosen to step up and fight so you are not alone, Ash…"

Ho-oh's voice still lingered in the air although it had disappeared from view.

Location: Mossdeep City's Gym

"What the hell happened in here? " Dylan demanded, looking around.

The entire training area was in wreckage. The lights were shattered and boulders jutted out from the grounds haphazardly.

"LIZA, TATE! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?"

There was no sign of the twins anywhere.

"Metagross, use psychic and search them out, go!" Dylan threw out a pokéball.

In a blinding flash, the steel and psychic pokemon appeared. It's eyes glowed an eerie blue as the pokemon began to scan the gym for any familiar waves that they or their pokemon might emit. However, there were none though there happened to be some strange psychic waves that Metagross did not recognize. This whole area was barren of people and pokemon. In other words, utterly deserted.

"Can you detect anything, Metagross?"

The pokemon shook its head dejectedly.

Dylan sighed and returned it back into its pokéball. "Thanks Metagross."

"Where in the world could they be?" he muttered.

Dylan was just on his way to Mossdeep after emerging as the latest pokemon league champion, to visit his younger twin cousins and maybe put in a friendly match or two. Waves of worry mixed in with fear crashed upon him as he struggled to figure out what to do next. Just then, he heard something, an unknown intrusion. Hastily, the twenty-year-old hid himself in the shadows, deep inside the gym.

An older man with red hair stepped into the gym, followed by a Dragonite, which must be his. For some reason, he seemed familiar but Dylan could not quite place it. The stranger looked around guardedly.

"You can come out now," he said after a long pause and stepped further inside.

Dylan tensed, ready for a fight. At least, he was not going anywhere without taking out his opponent first.

"I'm no enemy. I'm simply here for an investigation."

The younger man froze as his eyes narrowed.

Investigation? What investigation? Does he know where they are?

Deciding to take a risk, he stepped out into the open.

The stranger's eyes widened. "What in the world is a League Champion doing here?"

Dylan glared at him. "I could ask you the same question."

Surprisingly, he laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm Lance, if you must know. Like I said, I'm here on an official investigation."

Dylan's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. Lance, the member of the Elite Four of the Kanto and Johto Region and also _the _Specialist in dragon-type pokemon. He was one of the most excellent trainers in the world.

"What do you mean official?"

"It seems Gym Leaders in all the regions, Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, are all disappearing. There have been claims that they have been all abducted by some fiend," Lance explained. "So, I'm here to find clues and capture him."

"You mean, Liza and Tate have been kidnapped?" Dylan demanded starkly.

He paused before he nodded. "I'm afraid so."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver

"Jane! It's such a pleasure to see you again," Lorelei remarked in a sweet voice as she pulled her into a friendly hug.

"Yeah, didn't fancy seeing you here," the nineteen-year-old answered, smiling at the beautiful bespectacled woman.

Will, a member of the Elite Four in Johto, whistled. "There must be some major thingy going on for the old man to call all of us in like this."

"Must be," Lorelei agreed as she folded her arms and checked out the entire place.

A grave look crossed Jane's face. "Seems that all the Gym Leaders are pulling vanishing acts, one after another."

Both their eyes widened in shock as Jane's revelation settled over them.

"You don't mean that they were abducted, do you?" Lorelei asked her.

Jane nodded. "That seems to be what everyone claims it to be."

"That _is _major. I wonder what is going on." An uneasy look crossed Will's face.

Not a moment too soon, the President of the Pokemon League arrived. Jane noticed that her grandpa had lost so much weight since she had last seen him, about a month ago. This perplexing phenomenon must be getting to him, she thought.

"Firstly, let me thank you all for coming at such short notice, I really appreciate it your coming here. As many of you know, there have been several cases of Gym Leaders disappearing all over the three regions, Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. However, there have been many witnesses, which happened to be the official pokemon referees, in charge of those gyms, claiming that they saw a masked boy who controls Mew, the legendary psychic pokemon. That is our prime suspect at the moment but alas, he is still at large."

At this, there were many whispers all around but Jane's blue eyes were still fixed on her grandfather as she waited tolerantly for the murmuring to die down and allow the old man to continue.

"The reason why I urgently requested your presence here is to lend a helping hand to the investigations so that it can flow smoothly. Your main objective is to protect the remaining Gym Leaders and thwart the perpetrator's plans, whatever they may be. Are there any objections against this decision?"

Mr. Goodshow gazed around at his audience which consisted of professional trainers and finally resting on his granddaughter's cerulean ones. Jane nodded and mouthed, "Grandpa, you can count me in."

The man gave her a fleeting smile before his eyes roved over to the rest of them. Just then, Agatha, another member of the Kanto Elite Four, raised her hand.

"Yes, if you would please, Miss Agatha?"

The old woman stood up, leaning against her walking stick. "Just a question. That sonny you were talking about, how in the world can he control a Legendary, much less Mew?"

"We have verification about Mew's destructive power when it destroyed all the Gyms so far."

Agatha nodded. "I see."

Another question was brought up, this time by Lorelei.

"The suspect might not just have an aim to only capture the Gym Leaders themselves. What about pokemon, the legendary ones? Isn't that what he seeks as well since he does have Mew?"

The President nodded his head. "Yes, that did cross my mind once but so far, we know that only Mew is in his possession right now. As you already know, legendary pokemon are elusive and scattered creatures much less, to even capture them is out of the question. How he controls Mew is something we need to confirm. However, there are myths stating that only selected trainers are able to control these said pokemon."

Jane raised her hand as well.

"Yes, Jane?"

"Sorry to disrupt but I wish to confirm something. How many Gym Leaders have gone missing?"

Her grandfather glanced down at the folder in his hand before he answered her question. "In Kanto, reports have shown Brock and Misty. In Johto, so far none but Hoenn, the first to disappear are twin Gym Leaders, Liza and Tate though recent calculations have shown that Liza and Tate are the first to disappear followed by Brock and then Misty."

Suddenly Assistant Joshua came hurrying in, his face drained of color. In his arms, there was a thick stack of papers.

"What's wrong Joshua?" Jane demanded sharply as all eyes turned to him.

Wiping his perspiring face with a handkerchief, he shook his head. "It's getting worse. Already three more has disappeared."

"Who are they?" Mr. Goodshow asked.

"Lieutenant Surge, Sabrina and Blaine."

Location: Cerulean City's Pokemon Centre

"You mean Brock and Misty aren't the only ones to go missing?" Ash questioned after being rudely awakened by Gary who had arrived from Cherrygrove City in the wee hours of the morning.

The other twenty-year-old nodded. "Yeah, the situation seems to be getting out of hand. More Gym Leaders are going to go missing as we speak."

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Gary smirked, resuming his old demeanor once again just like when they used to be battle rivals. Ash still thought of him as a rival now though, that had not changed. "I was hoping you would ask me that question. Gramps told the both of us to head to Silver Town. It seems that trainers are being called in to protect the rest of the Leaders."

Ash nodded quickly. "Yeah, you can definitely count on me."

His Pikachu nodded as well to indicate its agreement.

"We'll just surf our way there with Blastoise."

Just as quickly as it came, Ash's smile vanished. "Oh yeah, before we leave here there's something I think I need to tell you first."

Gary looked expectantly back at him.

"Uh, I have Ho-oh with me."

The researcher blinked as he stared at Ash in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Ash?"

Ash sighed, "Like I said, I have Ho-oh with me. It chose me as its Guardian Trainer. Also, Ho-oh mentioned something about other Guardian Trainers as well."

"Guardian Trainers?" Gary repeated.

His friend nodded again. "Yeah, trainers who are specially chosen by the pokemon to take part in some sort of battle that Ho-oh predicted, I guess. Do you have one?"

Gary shook his head, no.

"Maybe your partner hasn't found you yet," Ash suggested.

Gary shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He hated to admit it but he felt slightly jealous of Ash since he possessed something which Gary knew, lacked, deep in himself. However, putting that envy aside, he knew that Ash was not the sort of person to fib about something as critical as this.

"Well, let's get going then. Blastoise, let's proceed to Silver Town."

Gary called upon his own companion.

During the entire journey there, the researcher had only one thought in his mind. About his own chosen partner in this envisaged battle.

Location: Mossdeep City's Pokemon Centre

"I can't believe this!" Dylan snapped, putting his head in his hands. "What will Aunty Rachel and Uncle Jin say?"

He had yet to visit the twins' parents but he did not have the heart to tell them. He did not want to get them hurt. Lance had done him that very favor.

He knew that something was up to have not only Liza and Tate disappearing but the rest of the Gym Leaders around the regions. Is there any way to stop this criminal?

"Dylan!"

The twenty-year-old looked up when he heard a woman's voice calling his name.

"Aunty Rachel?"

"It's so good to see you again, dear," the blue-haired woman told him warmly as she hugged him.

"We saw you on the news earlier, congratulations Dylan," Jin added, patting his back.

"Yeah thanks, Uncle Jin."

As the four of them took their seats at a recently vacated table, it was Jin that started off the conversation.

"We knew about their disappearance since a week ago."

His wife nodded slowly, trying to keep her tears in check. "We notified the police but their search had turned up nothing. The gym was ruined and everything was so messed up."

Dylan noticed that Rachel had lost weight and her face looked so gaunt and weary with dark circles under her eyes. The smiling aunty he once knew, was gone. Dylan could understand what she, as a mother was going through when her children were threatened. The worst thing was she could not even do anything about it. She was helpless.

Jin placed a comforting arm around her for support.

"The Pokemon League council is looking into it. It seems that the foe we're dealing with is a formidable one. We're unsure of his motives but we are doing all we can to help the police in the investigation," Lance explained.

"I see," Jin answered, nodding.

"Please bring my twins back," Rachel implored.  
"Yes. We will, I promise," Lance answered. "We're getting as much people to help out as we can right now."

"Well then, I'll take part as well," Dylan spoke up suddenly.

Everyone turned to him.

"That's a fine idea, why not?" Lance agreed. "We need all the help we can get."

Dylan nodded.

I'll get them back, just you wait, whoever you are…

Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver

There were several collective gasps around the room at the latest news.

"This guy is moving fastest than we thought," Will remarked. "And the old man has not yet even concluded this meeting."

Lorelei nodded in agreement. "Yes, if we don't act fast, very soon they will all disappear."

Before Jane could said anything, the door of the conference room slammed open. Everyone turned their attention to the latecomers.

"Sorry we're late!"

Jane's eyes widened in astonishment when she saw who it was.

"Gary?" she exclaimed.

Gary's reaction was similar to hers.

"Hey there, Jane!" he replied, grinning.

"Ah yes, greetings to the both of you," Mr. Goodshow said. "I heard about you from Professor Oak."

As soon as they finished exchanging greetings, both Gary and Ash joined Jane who was standing next to Lorelei and Will.

"Ash, this is Jane," Gary motioned towards the pink-haired nineteen-year-old.

Jane gave him, a huge grin and extended her hand, out to him. "Jane here, a pleasure to meet you, Ash."

The two of them did a firm handshake thus sealing their newfound friendship.

"Right then, let's start where I've left of," the President began. "First thing first, some of you are to organize yourself into groups of two by random arrangement. The Elite Four of the respective regions will be designated to each Gym. This will allow you to back each other up in case of a battle. From there, we'll arrange for you to protect each of the remaining Leaders."

The groupings were done automatically. Gary and Ash were to protect Norman of Petalburg City in Hoenn while Jane landed with Lance, to protect Flannery of Lavaridge Town also located in the Hoenn region.

"Sorry about your being temporary solo, Jane," Charles told her once they were alone, after the rest of them had left to their respective destinations that was scattered around the regions.

Jane smiled at her grandfather. "No worries, grandpa. I'll be fine."

The old man gazed at his only granddaughter whom he had raised independently for the past fourteen years ever since her parents had died in a car crash. The girl grew up into a young lady who had not only fulfilled his expectations but had exceeded them as well. It was time to put all of his trust in her to stop this evil at all cost.

"This is a Pokemon Navigator," he replied as he handed her the latest communication device that was invented. "Use this to keep in touch. I've given one to Lance as well. You would be able to correspond with him easily."

Jane nodded and hugged him. "After this is all over, I will come visit you like a granddaughter would do, I promise."

"I know you will keep your promise, Jane. Everyone will be awaiting your return."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver 

It was around midday; the very next day after Jane's departure to Lavaridge Town that Charles received a call from Lance.

"Mr. Goodshow, I have sent someone there whom I'm sure you will approve of, Dylan, the Hoenn League's current champion. He has decided to help us."

The older man nodded approvingly. "Yes, that is good to hear. I'll take care of the necessary deployment process once he's reached here."

"So, how's Jane doing?" Lance asked suddenly.

"Oh, she's fine alright, just left for Lavaridge Town."

Lance's eyes widened on the screen. "She's heading to Hoenn?"

"In fact, I send her intentionally there to back you up. Gary Oak and Ash Ketchum are also headed there as well since most of the Gym Leaders there are concentrated around that area. Besides, we have to protect the preponderance," Charles answered. "I've also enlisted for the Elite Four of Hoenn for aid as well."

"I see. I know she's perfectly fine in holding up on her own but are you sure about this, Mr. Goodshow?" Lance asked.

Jane's grandfather nodded firmly. "I'm absolutely sure. Unless push comes to shove, Joshua will be on hold for now."

"Yes, I've gathered that. What about the rest of the Elite Four members?"

"Lorelei and Agatha are organized within the Kanto Region but Bruno is helping out in Johto, though we're still unsure about the current location of Giovanni, as a result no one is at Viridian City at the moment."

"So, there are only two leaders left in Kanto?"

Charles nodded. "Yes, Erika and Koga are the only ones left, I'm afraid."

Lance's expression became grave.

"He's moving faster than before," the young man remarked.

"Furthermore, he's doing it in a indiscriminate pattern all over the regions that we are unable to pin down where exactly he might strike next," the older man said, shaking his head.

"From what I gather, he's calculating his moves and moving vigilantly now. I'm sure it might not have escape his notice that now professionals are bring thrown into the game," Lance replied.

"But to be able to control Mew?" Charles argued. "How does one even do that?"

This was something Lance did not know. He paused, choosing his words carefully since he knew that he was threading on a thin layer of ice. "Maybe he might have found a way to do it."

"That is something we have to find out and fast."

After all, having Legendaries involved was risky business. The relationship between people and pokemon hangs precariously on the balance. The ice might just shatter and break, plunging everything into darkness.

Location: Ecruteak City's Bell Tower

Banette knew almost instantly that other than those stray ghost pokemon that inhabited here, the one pokemon that it was searching out was not here, at least not any longer.

"Tch, how in the world did those two managed to escape?" Jayden demanded furiously. "First Lugia and now Ho-oh? What is happening?"

Suddenly, Lexie's words drifted through his mind and his eyes widened as her words finally dawned on him.

Could it be that someone actually did catch them already…?

Pure indignation filled him as he clenched his fist.

"Change of plans, Jay. _He_ told us to abandon the design and just go after the rest of the Gym Leaders like what was originally intended. It seems that by annex of those Leaders, it would mean the securing of the Legendaries, child's play."

Lexie's voice filled his ears, via his communication device.

"What?" the twenty-year-old hissed. "Are you sure _Seth _said that?"

The girl was silent at the other end of the line.

"Lexie?"

"I suggest you don't question his authority. It seems that the League Council has gotten wind of what's happening. Already, trainers are being called in to guard the gyms throughout the regions. This would make it troublesome for us. Now, our job is to head for the Hoenn Region while he finishes up in Johto. I've already informed Daniel about this. He's headed for Mossdeep City to take care of the remaining twin sibling while I'm almost to Lavaridge Town. You are to go for the Fortree Gym. Information on Winona will be sent to you via email."

With that, Lexie disconnected the call and the line went dead. All Jayden could hear was simply static on the other end.

His blue eyes narrowed into slits.

What is he thinking…?

"Who goes there?"  
Jayden looked up, almost immediately. It was Morty, the Ecruteak City's Gym Leader. He smirked.

"Someone is definitely here. Gengar, search him out," the blonde-haired trainer ordered.

Jayden revealed himself before the Gym Leader before Gengar could even do anything.

"Who are you? State your reason of your coming here!" Morty demanded.

Jayden's eyes narrowed. "I don't have to do that now, do I?"

"Your objective here is the rainbow-colored pokemon, isn't it?" Morty asked.

"My business here is none of your concern, Morty of the Ecruteak Gym," Jayden sneered, glaring murderously at the older guy. "Now if you may, I have places to be and people to thrash."

With that, Jayden threw out a pokéball. Alakazam used teleport, vanishing along with its trainer.

The Gym Leader made a rude noise as he could only stare helplessly at the spot where the enigmatic stranger had been earlier. With the unexplained disappearances' of six of the Gym Leaders in Kanto region, it was only natural for the other Gym Leaders in the Johto region to up their defenses against this anonymous trainer that rumors had, had a Mew. Morty could no longer sense him. This white-haired trainer's presence was neither in the Bell Tower nor in the city as well. Although, the intruder was gone, his words niggled at him.

Who were the people that he was after?

Location: Lavaridge Town's Gym

"Splendid job there, Dragonair."

Jane stroked the beautiful dragon's head affectionately, before returning it back into its pokéball for its long and well-deserved rest.

Together with Furret, they headed towards the Lavaridge Gym.

"Um, excuse me?" Jane forced the gigantic doors of the Gym, open.

"Yay! Grandpa, look another challenger!" a vivacious girl, not much older than her with her long crimson hair tied up sloppily in a ponytail, yelled as she grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her inside.

This girl must be Flannery, was her best bet.

"Uh, wait a second…I'm not –" Jane began.

Flannery twirled around and grasped both the girl's hands in hers, her eyes sparkling with delight and enthusiasm.

"Let's get started then. My pokemon are always ready to battle."

Jane's blue eyes widened and aggressively jerked her hands away from Flannery's grip.

"Hold it; I'm not here to confront you in a battle or anything. I've been dispatched here to protect you," Jane snapped, brandishing an identification card to prove her credentials and her affiliation to the Pokemon League.

Before Flannery could take the card from her, someone beat her to it, apparently by a much older man who must be her grandfather that the Gym Leader mentioned. He peered intently at the card through his reading glasses.

"I'm Jane Cruise at your service," Jane spoke up politely, introducing herself to the two of them. "A message should have arrived long before stating an explanation about my arrival here."

"An officer, huh?" the man said, as he handed the card back to her and examined her face.

"Yes."

The man's eyes narrowed. "Pink hair and blue eyes…are you by any chance, the granddaughter of the President of the Pokemon League Council?"

The nineteen-year-old's face broke into a huge grin. "You mean to say that you know my grandfather?"

He guffawed, "Course', I do. Everyone knows Charles. I'm Mr. Moore and this here, is my granddaughter, Flannery."

Flannery looked blushed in embarrassment. "Gosh, didn't know you were an officer. Sorry about that, my bad."

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad that's settled," Jane said, laughing.

"Yes, we did receive a memo about that not too long ago. What's this about Gym Leaders disappearing?" Mr. Moore questioned.

Jane's face took on, a more serious expression. "Yes, it seems to be that way. Already six Gym Leaders in Kanto have gone missing and one from Hoenn while Johto is yet to be affected."

"Six?" the man echoed, taken aback.

Jane nodded. "That's why the Pokemon League and the Elite Four members of the regions have decided to step in to stop this."

"And the one who vanished here in Hoenn?" Flannery asked.

"Twin Gym Leaders of Mossdeep City," Jane answered promptly.

The Gym Leader's face grew pale.

"So it's clear that someone out there is targeting the Gym Leaders of the regions," Jane continued.

"So you're deployed as damage control?" Mr. Moore inquired.

Jane smiled, a small smile. "I guess you could say that."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Flannery gushed, staring at Jane in admiration.

The other girl looked at her in bewilderment.

"What's so cool about it?"

"This means you have some neat pokemon with ya," Flannery replied, grinning. "What say you to a one-on-one friendly match? After all, you have to prove your worth if you wanna defend a Gym Leader. "

Jane returned her grin with her own, friendly one and nodded.

"Well, if you put it that way…I accept wholly."

Location: Petalburg City's Gym

"Well, would you look who it is?" Norman replied, smiling at the two boys before him as he wiped sweat of his brow with the towel that hung around his neck.

Ash was willing to bet that Norman was still rigorously training ever since he had defeated the Gym Leader before.

"Hello Norman!" Ash greeted the older man and introduced Gary to him.

"Hey look! It's Ash and Pikachu!" Max yelled as he ran forward to meet his friend.

Soon he was followed by, May and their mother, Caroline.

"It's so good to see you again!" May said happily.

Her mother nodded and smiled down at the two boys warmly.

"Let us all get inside and I'll see to it, we all get some of my secret recipe cookies to munch on. How's that sound?"

"I'll help you out, mum," May volunteered sweetly, raising her hand quickly.

Everyone voiced out their agreement, in unison. Together, they headed towards the house.

"Hello I'm Gary Oak and – " Gary started but was interrupted by Max.

"Hey, you are _the _Professor Oak's grandson, aren't you?"

The young boy looked up at him in a mixture of awe and exhilaration. Without even waiting for Gary's answer, Max answered his own question.

"I'm so excited. You know, I saw you once on television when you were battling at the Silver Conference. Boy, the way you battled with your pokemon was simply exceptional!" Max gushed, his eyes shining. "I'm so lucky to be meeting you."

"Uh…thank you, Max," Gary replied awkwardly, unsure how to react to Max's palpable veneration of him.

Ash made a face.

"You weren't even that _happy _when you met _me_, Max," Ash teased him.

Max shot him a dirty look. "That was then, Ash. This scenario is way better than the first time I met you."

Norman chuckled at his son's behavior.

The tray of freshly baked cookies came shortly, served by Caroline while May set the dishes and poured fruit juice into everyone's glasses.

As they dug into the food, it was Norman who began the conversation. "So I heard that Gym Leaders are vanishing around the regions?"

Ash swallowed his cookies down with the fruit juice before wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Before he could answer, Gary beat him to it.

"Yeah, already six Gym Leaders have gone missing in the Kanto region as well as the twin Gym Leaders in Mossdeep City. Witnesses claim that they were in fact abducted."

There was silence after Gary's explanation as the words settled over them. Norman's expression was severe.

"Thus, the two of us were sent here to protect you," Ash finished.

The older man looked at them and nodded slowly.

"But Dad is fully capable of defending himself well on his own," Max argued.

"Yes. We do know that, Max," Caroline answered. "But he needs someone to back him up too."

Her son appeared to have accepted her answer. Without warning, his face brightened up and the young boy leaned forward in his seat.

"How about a pokemon battle, Gary?" he asked the brown-haired researcher. "I've been training hard ever since we came back to Petalburg."

Ash's eyes widened. "You got your own pokemon, Max?"

The younger boy nodded. "Sure, I did."

"But he caught just one though," May added mischievously.

Max glared at his older sister. "Can it, May."

Then he turned to Gary, ignoring his sister completely. "So, can we, Gary?"

Gary laughed awkwardly and nodded. "Uh, if you say so but don't think I'll go easy on you, kiddo."

Max smiled surreptitiously. "I was hoping you would say that."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Location: Lavaridge Town's Hotsprings

A blue-eyed boy stumbled weakly towards the Hotsprings that Lavaridge Town was prominent for. He needed help, desperately and he needed it, now. His older sister was forcefully being taken away by an outlandish individual in a mask. He knew that people were after him because of his possession over the Legendary Pokemon, Mewtwo. How they came about this information was unknown to him. Consequently, there was a struggle and with his sister's help, he had managed to escape but in the process, getting caught herself. Another wave of tears threatened to blur his vision once again as he staggered towards his destination, like a drunken person.

"Sonny, are you alright?" an old woman snapped when she caught sight of him.

The boy looked up apprehensively at her but did not reply.

The old woman sighed loudly. "I ain't gonna eat you, boy. You look like you need treatment. You're badly injured."

Finally as fatigue overcame his small body, did he spoke.

"I need to see Flannery, please…" His voice faltered as it trailed off.

The boy had already lost consciousness and sank to the ground, Mewtwo's pokéball safely tucked within his shirt on a necklace.

Location: Petalburg City's Gym

"This is an unofficial one-on-one battle between Max and Gary Oak. With no time limit, let the battle begin!"

Norman had volunteered to be the referee of the match.

The two challengers had stepped up onto the battlefield, with courtesy of Norman's very own gym arena.

Max threw out a pokéball. "Kirlia, let's go!"

"Kirlia?" Ash repeated, looking bewildered. "Is it what I think it is?"

May giggled and nodded. "Yup, the very same Ralts that Max found near the lake on the way to Sootopolis City. It evolved during one of the occasions that the two of them were training with Dad."

Ash's face broke into a wide grin and he called out, "Good going there, Max!"

The younger boy gave him, a thumbs-up in response.

"A psychic-type, huh?" Gary smirked as he depressed the button on his own pokéball to enlarge it. "Well then, Sneasel, you're up!"

The appearance of the dark and ice type pokemon made everyone gasp.

"Would you look at that?" May exclaimed.

"He caught a Sneasel of a different colour," Ash remarked.

The Sneasel which had emerged from Gary's pokéball was in fact of a different color as compared to the normal black colored pokemon. Gary's one was pink.

"Both pokemon are so cute," Caroline cooed.

"But this could be bad for Max. He's up against a dark-type. Psychic moves will have no effect on a Sneasel," May said. "Especially one like Gary's."

Ash did not say anything. He hated to admit it but May was right. Knowing Gary, his Sneasel would definitely be well-trained, after having been battling with him at the Silver Conference. Gary always meant business particularly if he was involved in a pokemon battle.  
"I'll let you do the first strike, Max," Gary called out.

Max nodded. "Let's go, Kirlia! Start off with Fire punch!"

Ash almost fell off the bench when he heard that. "Can Kirlia even do that?"

"Max taught it other attacks besides just psychic-type attacks in order to make up for its apparent weakness."

"Sneasel, jump and dodge that. Then use shadow ball!" Gary yelled.

Kirlia was about to execute that flaming punch but Sneasel was too quick for it. As a result, Kirlia missed its target completely. The sly grin of Sneasel came back as it went in for the kill and threw the dark-type move at Max's pokemon.

"Use teleport quick, Kirlia!" Max called out, acting quickly.

Kirlia was able to get out of harm's way, just in time as the big ball of darkness hurtled through the air and crashed onto the ground, with startling impact.

Max gritted his teeth as he thought about what would have happened if that was a direct hit.

"That would have taken Kirlia out," May gasped.

Ash made a rude noise and leaned forward in his seat. "Hey Max, you gotta do offensive! No one's going to win if you just keep dodging attacks!"

"I know that, Ash but that Sneasel's too fast for us…" Max muttered. "I've gotta do something to hold it down for a moment. Then we can get a clean shot at it."

"Sneasel, use faint attack, go!"

The pokemon disappeared, taking both Max and his Kirlia by surprise.

"Where'd it go?"

Unexpectedly, the dark type pokemon appeared behind the psychic pokemon and did a direct hit. Kirlia went flying.

"I've never seen a faint attack like that before!" May remarked.

"Gary's pokemon never fails to surprise me," Ash muttered.

"Kirlia, hang in there!" Max urged. "Try to stand up!"

"Sneasel, finish it off with blizzard, go!" Gary ordered mercilessly.

This was also another unfortunate hit, what's more with the most powerful ice-type attack. Kirlia was knocked unconscious, almost instantaneously.

"Kirlia has been defeated. The winner of this battle is Gary!" Norman announced.

"You did great, Kirlia. Thank you," Max said as he recalled it back into its pokéball, just as Gary withdrew his.

"That was an outstanding battle you put out, Max!" Gary told him, as the two of them shook hands. "I'm sure you'll be an excellent pokemon trainer."

Max grinned at him. "Thanks. You sure did a great job yourself, Gary."

"Comes' with tons of training, practice battles and experience of battling with other trainers, Max," the older boy replied, winking.

Location: Silver Town on the foot of Mount Silver 

"Mr. Goodshow, sir, it seems that someone has requested for you, who goes by the name of Dylan," Assistant Joshua told Charles.

"Ah yes, there was an allusion by Lance's call earlier that day," he said, nodding. "Yes, please do allow him in."

"At once, Mr. Goodshow," the younger man bowed slightly.

Within a few minutes, Dylan came in, closing the door behind him. Charles scrutinized him and motioned him to take seat across his desk.

"Lance must have spoken to you about these unnatural episodes, I presume?" he asked the twenty-year-old.

Dylan nodded.

"Then I shall come straight to the point," the President of the Pokemon League said. "As of late, I have made special arrangements for Gym Leaders to be placed under the security of professional trainers, in other words, officers. We are currently shorthanded in the Johto region therefore I have already informed your charge ahead of time before your arrival here. Your charge is none other than Clair, Lance's cousin."

"I see. May I ask how many Leaders have already disappeared presently?" Dylan asked.

"Six that we know of, five of the Kanto's Leaders and the other is as you know, located in Hoenn's Mossdeep City."

Charles noticed that a fleeting expression of anger crossed the Champion's face before it disappeared.

"Is that something bothering you, Dylan?"

The young man blinked and shook his head quickly. "No, no. I'm fine."

"Those twins are your cousins, isn't it?" the old man spoke up suddenly.

At this, Dylan's head snapped up and his startling green eyes met Charles's.

"That's why you came here, isn't it? To get them back?" Charles's voice was kind.

Dylan nodded wordlessly.

"Don't worry, we're all in this together, Dylan. Gym Leaders are also people who are loved and have families and friends. No matter what the situation is, we'll get them back."

The old man knew what hope was when he saw it and he saw it in the boy.

"You're strong, Dylan and you possess a certain strength that not everyone has. Use it to protect the ones you love," Jane's grandfather continued, still in that calm tone.

The twenty-year-old finally smiled, a small smile and he nodded again.

"I will," he said quietly. "Protect my family and friends."

Location: Lavaridge Town's Gym

"I'll be the judge of this open and unofficial match between Jane Cruise and the Gym Leader, Flannery," Flannery's grandfather announced at the judge's podium. "With no time limit to this battle, let's begin the match."

"As the Gym Leader, don't expect me to go easy on you," Flannery called out.

Jane smirked. "I never did."

"I've recently been training with this pokemon so I wish to test its strength in a pokemon battle," Flannery said as she chose a pokéball from her belt. "Flareon, come on out!"

With a flourish, Jane wielded her own pokéball. "Guess, I'll just fight fire with fire. Go!"

Jane's Charizard materialized and it gave a feral roar.

"Amazing! A Charizard!" Flannery exclaimed. "Jane, you must have trained it really well. It looks so formidable."

Jane folded her arms and nodded her thanks.

"We'll start things of with a flamethrower, Flareon!" Flannery called out.

"Fly up and dodge that," Jane commanded. "And then use hyper beam."

Flannery's eyes widened. Her adversary that stood before her was unlike the girl, she was before. The Jane now, looked utterly ruthless but fervent in battle.

"Flareon, use quick attack to dodge it!"

The fire-type pokemon just managed to do so but the blow of the powerful normal attack, sent her poor Flareon soaring.

Flannery gritted her teeth as she risked another glance at Jane.

She's so powerful…

"Charizard, dive and go straight into aerial ace," Jane instructed, without even blinking.

From that angle, the airborne Flareon could hardly even dodge anything as Charizard accomplished a direct hit. By this time, Flannery's pokemon was definitely weak and injured.

The Gym Leader knew that she had to gamble on the outcome of this battle. She had to risk it.

"Flareon, overheat, go!"

Fortunately, the fierce fire-attack hit its target although it was slightly off the mark. Charizard's left wing was injured, denying it the freedom of the skies as it descended slowly to the ground.

"Right then, Charizard use the remaining momentum and finish it with earthquake!"

"An earthquake?" Flannery cried out, taken aback.

The cataclysmic ground movement was more than enough to knock Flareon out cold.

"Flareon is unable to battle and the winner of this round goes to Jane!"

Flannery returned her pokemon back to its pokéball.

"Awesome moves, Jane! I mean, a fire pokemon with a selection of attacks from the diverse groups, just incredible!" Flannery blurted out.

Jane looked up and gave her, a lopsided grin.

"Thanks Flannery but really Charizard deserves all the praise. He has been with me since I started my journey as a baby Charmander."

She started to take out her first-aid kit from her lilac daypack.

Flannery blinked as she stared at what the nineteen-year-old was doing, suddenly noticing that Charizard was not yet recalled into its own pokéball.

"What are you doing, Jane?"

The younger girl looked up and smiled. "You mean this? I'm going to fix Charizard's wing."

"Why don't you just take it to the Pokemon Centre so that Nurse Joy can treat it?" Flannery suggested.

Jane shook her head. "Thanks but I rather take care of my pokemon's health on my own. Besides, I used to take a Pokemon First-Aid course before, conducted by the Cherrygrove City's Nurse Joy."

"You are just simply full of surprises, aren't you, Jane?" Mr. Moore remarked, smiling with approval.

"Yeah," Flannery agreed, laughing.

Jane blushed but continued working on her pokemon's wound. "I'm just as a regular trainer as they come."

Flannery stroke Charizard's head. "Sorry about that, Charizard."

It growled softly in response.

"You know, Flannery. I could treat your Flareon for you, if you want me to."

The other girl's eyes widened. "You would?"

Jane grinned and nodded. "After I'm done with Charizard's here, then I'll get started on yours."

"Sure, thanks a bunch!" Flannery replied, returning Jane's smile.

As the Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town watched on, she could understand why Jane's pokemon cherished her as much as they did, adore her. For some reason, Flannery felt that she reminded her of Ash Ketchum.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Location: Blackthorn City's Gym

"Well…this is it," Dylan murmured as he hopped off his Pidgeot's back, his green eyes never leaving the Gym.

It loomed over him, ominously. He had never ventured far to the Johto region before. It was his primary stopover though he had made his mind up about journeying to the Kanto region after the Hoenn's Pokemon League.

The recent email that was remitted to him contained all the data about Clair, the eighth and final Gym Leader of the Johto region who's a specialist in Dragon-type pokemon. It was a no brainer why Lance was related to her. In his familiarity of raising his own Kingdra, it was evident that Dragon-types were one of the demanding pokemon to raise but they were excellent to have in battles. Their weaknesses to other types were almost trivial, making them pretty much formidable antagonists. Clair and Lance were two of the trainers that had gained Dylan's admiration.

"Excuse me. I'm Dylan, sent here by the League Association," the Champion introduced himself as he entered the Gym.

However, there was no answer. Dylan's eyes narrowed and he took a few more steps forward.

"Excuse me. Hello, is anyone there?" he called out in a much louder voice. "I'm Dylan, from the Pokemon League Association."

Again, no one answered him. It was clear that the Gym was empty of people.

"Where could Clair have gone?" he muttered as he backed out of the Gym and surveyed his surroundings.

He dug through his bag and pulled out the Pokemon Navigator that was given to him by the President and called up Mr. Goodshow. The old man picked up on the second ring.

"Mr. Goodshow, it's me, Dylan. I've arrived at Blackthorn City but Clair is absent from the Gym. Do you have any idea where she is?"

"Oh, did you check the Dragon's Den?" Charles suggested. "Clair loves to train there so there might be a possibility. Just head to the back of Clair's Gym and there is a lake there, leading towards the Den."

Dylan nodded. "Thanks for instructions, President."

"Son, do you have any business at the Blackthorn Gym?"

The twenty-year-old spun around. An elderly man stood there with a frown on his face.

"Yes, in fact I do. I'm here to have a word with the Blackthorn Gym Leader, Clair."

The stranger studied his face suspiciously before he smiled at the young Champion, toothily after a moment.

"Ah yes, you must be that officer that Charles was blathering about."

Dylan blinked and stared at him, mutely.

The old man laughed. "Ah forgive me; I'm the Clan Elder, protector of the Dragon's Den. Clair is presently unavailable, she has gone to the Dragon's Den to investigate something. She told me to wait here for your arrival."

"Investigate what?" Dylan echoed, sharply.

The Clan Elder looked at him and shook his head. "I'm afraid you have to discuss this with her when she comes back. Only recognized trainers would be able to enter the Den of the Dragons. I suggest you wait for Mistress Clair."

Dylan felt disappointed but he did not argue. Suddenly, there was a shriek and an explosion. Both of them gasped. The noise came directly from the Den. Something was wrong, plus the scream sounded female, he knew it.

"This is bad, something must have happened to her!" the old man cried out.

"Pidgeot, let's go!" Dylan enjoined as he leapt onto its back.

Holding his hand out, the other man reached out and took it. Then turning to Pidgeot, Dylan quickly instructed the flying pokemon to make for the Dragon's Den.

Location: Mossdeep's City Gym

Daniel stared up at the Mossdeep City's Gym. A group of onlookers had started to gather outside of the Gym. His eyes widened in surprise. Wondering what was happening, he mingled himself into the crowd to avoid drawing attention to himself.

There should not be anything left behind after Seth's appearance to only Gym Leaders and Gym Leaders alone, at least that was what he was in no doubt about. It was then he caught sight of something, or rather…someone. Lance, one of the elite four members and specialist of Dragon-type pokemon.

This would make his job harder, than what he had expected. Although, he knew that professional trainers were involved, he did not know that it meant the Elite Four members as well. Lance's popularity must have attracted these busybodies, was his guess. However, he could not help but feel a wave of anxiety. Lance was not stupid; his purpose must have coincided Daniel's. The twenty-year-old gritted his teeth but decided not to interfere given that the other trainer was a master in the art of pokemon battle and furthermore Daniel knew he was no match for the Elite Four member. Daniel was no fool. He knew that rash acts would definitely get himself into hot soup, and worse still, caught by the authority for being part of the organisation.

This was definitely dire, a situation. He had to come back here again, whether Seth liked it or not. He knew that _that _genius hated to be put off. Daniel stared at Lance, once again and this time, he caught the Elite Four member's eye. Steel and unforgiving grey eyes met flaming red orbs. Daniel knew a staring match when he was in one. The two of them were unwilling to back down from one another.

Finally, Lance looked away. Daniel sighed inwardly as he slowly left the throng of people, putting on a nonchalant and ignorant act as much as possible. As he left the area, he knew that Lance knew that one of the twin siblings had managed to escape. The trainer had no choice but to leave and search for that darned child elsewhere.

Location: Lavaridge Town's Gym

The nineteen-year-old was just putting the finishing touches on Flareon when the doors of the Gym, slammed open.

Flannery stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Well, that was rude."

Mr. Moore nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

Jane glanced at the intruder for a moment before she focused back on the matter, at hand. She knew that Flannery could handle this one herself. The girl would step in if necessary.

"I'm Lexie and I've come to challenge Flannery, this Gym's owner," an attractive long red-haired girl in a white lacy dress announced haughtily as she stepped onto the battle platform.

Jane cast a sidelong glimpse again at the girl called Lexie as she accessed the circumstances.

"Your challenge is accepted, _Lexie_," Flannery answered quickly. "We'll have a one-on-one battle."

Lexie's matching red eyes were fixed on Jane's blue ones and then she smirked. "I thought _that _girl was supposed to be the Leader?"

Jane was starting to dislike the girl already but instead she maintained her silence.

Flannery stepped in front of Jane and pointed to herself. "I'm the Gym Leader here, Lexie. So do you want a battle or not?"

"Of course, this battle, I predict would be done in ten minutes or so," Lexie sneered.

"Conceit will get you nowhere, young girl," Mr. Moore interrupted, looking stern.

The girl made a rude noise and shrugged her shoulders. It was of utter insolence. Jane felt her anger mount but she managed to keep it in check.

Before anyone could even manage a comeback, Lexie released her pokemon, two of them to be exact. A Gardevoir and a Mawile. There was no sign of Mew. She was not _that _person.

Within that instant, Jane knew something was wrong and she stood up and walked over to the battlefield before the Gym Leader could even react.

"You don't play by the rules, do you?" Jane asked quietly.

Lexie raised her eyebrow. "And who are you?"

"Jane Cruise," she answered simply. "State your _real _purpose of coming here or else…"

The nineteen-year-old allowed her sentence to trail off, giving additional significance to the warning behind it.

Lexie's leer grew wider. "Or what?"

Her voice held a note of challenge in it.

"I'll _make _you, that's what," Jane answered, a pokéball in hand.

Flannery took a step forward but Jane stopped her with one hand. "Just stay behind me, Flannery. Don't do anything impulsive."

Charles's granddaughter could feel Flannery's eyes on her but she complied with the officer's order and stayed behind her.

"Are _you_, by any chance, facing_ me _to a pokemon battle?" Lexie demanded sharply.

Now, it was Jane's turn to shrug her shoulders. "That's up to you to decide though."

Jane was trying Lexie's temper but she had to take that risk. Battling a foe that was in fury was an advantage for her. It was an old trick in the book.

Both her pokemon were glaring at her, waiting impatiently to do her in. Jane smirked and called on two of her pokemon. Her Furret and her Dragonair. She knew that Charizard needed its rest after the last battle. Dragonair also needed to rest after the extensive flight from Silver Town to Lavaridge Town but she knew and trusted in Dragonair well enough. The two of them can do it, she knew that they could. All she had to do is believe in her pokemon, like what Lugia had always told her to do.

"Mawile, ice beam on Dragonair and Gardevoir, use future sight."

"Dragonair, protect, go!" Jane commanded.

The dragon pokemon managed to elude the highly effective ice attack, denying itself damage.

"Hah! Using protect, huh?" Lexie scoffed. "That's _so_ not going to get you very far. Mawile, hyper beam on Dragonair! Gardevoir, hypnosis."

Jane needed to take into consideration of that last future sight attack that Lexie's used. It would strike them anytime shortly. Jane hated to admit it but that girl knew what she was doing.

"Dragonair, use _your _hyper beam and Furret, quick use shadow ball on Gardevoir!"

However, before Jane's pokemon could even attack, the future sight took effect and both Dragonair and Furret were send flying, both knocked out with hypnosis.

Jane gasped as she could only stare at her sleeping pokemon, helplessly. Lexie giggled.

"So, what are you going to do now, _Jane-y_, huh?" she mocked.

The pink-haired girl gritted her teeth and glared at her adversary.

Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver

Finally all of the Hoenn Elite Four members were in attendance as well as Wallace and Steven Stone, both exceedingly esteemed trainers. The President of the Pokemon League Association regarded them with a severe look in his eyes.

"Trainers and other Elite Four members of both Kanto and Johto regions have already been positioned in various parts of all of the three regions. I appreciate you coming all the way down here."

Just then, his assistant came in and politely served everyone, tea. Once Joshua was done, Charles went on with his discussion.

"Well then, let me get straight to the point before we delve any deeper into this. We need officers to protect the Gym Leaders from getting abducted by this unknown masked person. Currently, six Gym Leaders have already gone missing and right now, we are shorthanded."

Wallace raised a hand. "So you are implying that we have to safeguard the respective Gyms 24/7?"

Clasping his hands together, Charles leaned forward in his seat and nodded. "Yes, that's my meaning."

Again, another hand rose, this time from Steven Stone.

"Mossdeep's Gym Leaders have been taken, haven't they?"

"Yes, they were the first followed by the Kanto Leaders. Right now, we have only two remaining in our custody. Elite Four members Lorelei and Agatha are placed in charge."

"I see. Then what about us? How will we be located?"

The old man nodded. "I have already taken it upon myself to assign you to your designated charges. Anyone wish to broach objections?"

There were none from anyone.

"Then, the arrangement will get underway."

The discussion session was wrapped up in less than an hour as all of them left to their relevant charges.

Charles sighed heavily as he pushed back his chair and wandered over to the window. The sun-kissed weather did not reflect the disturbing emotions he felt. Something big was going to happen.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Joshua came in.

"What is it, Joshua?" he asked.

"It's Winona, sir. She's gone," the brown-haired man answered. "The witness, this time made a different statement."


End file.
